I began writing for Forbes in 2010. It was just as the economy was starting to perk up and a fascinating time to cover the stock market, which I did for three months until I switched beats in September 2010. Now I contribute to the Leadership channel, with a focus on jobs and careers–-another hot topic in a time when people are vigorously hunting for jobs or desperately trying to hold on to the ones they have. I have a BA from the University of Arizona and a master's degree in journalism from Hofstra University. Follow me on Twitter @JacquelynVSmith, subscribe to me on Google+, or email me at jsmith [at] forbes [dot] com.

The Happiest Airlines For Holiday Travel

The holiday season should be a joyous time filled with family, friends and festivities. But unpleasant airline employees can make getting to your holiday fun a misery. This year as you book your getaway, you might want to consider which airline employees will be smiling from check-in to landing, making your trip at least a little bit more enjoyable.

The jobs site CareerBliss.com just announced its annual ranking of America’s Happiest Airlines for Holiday Travel. With Thanksgiving fast approaching and travelers preparing to jet off to their next destinations, this list of the 10 domestic airlines with the most blissful employees may come in handy.

“For travelers, understanding the culture of a carrier and how the employees feel about their airline can have a dramatic influence on the way that company culture is carried out to the consumer,” says CareerBliss’ chief executive, Heidi Golledge. “Happy employees make the entire travel experience better. And as an added bonus, sometimes it is nice to know that you are using your travel dollars to support companies that truly care for their employees.”

CareerBliss analyzed more than 1,000 job reviews written by airline employees in 2011 to find the 10 happiest airlines for holiday travel. Airline employees had been asked to rate factors that affect workplace happiness, including growth opportunities, benefits, compensation, work-life balance, the company culture, their senior managers, job security, and whether they would recommend their employers to others.

They evaluated each factor on a five-point scale and also indicated how important it was to their overall happiness at work. The numbers were combined to find an overall rating of employee happiness for each respondent, and then they were sorted by company to find who the happiest airline employees were.

For the second consecutive year, Southwest Airlines lands the No. 1 spot as the happiest holiday airline to travel this season, with an overall happiness score of 4.04. “Southwest employees stated they valued the airline’s ability to provide flexibility and solid benefits for employees,” Golledge says. “In addition, employees noted that the company’s dedication to a positive and upbeat environment was key to their day-to-day happiness on the job.” Golledge says companies in all industries can emulate Southwest’s positive environment and improve their morale at very minimal cost.

“Consistently, work-life balance, senior management and the types of benefits employee receive ranked these three carriers on top,” says CareerBliss’ chief technology officer, Matt Miller. “Some employees who submitted reviews had worked at Alaska for 20 years and stated the company had a strong sense of integrity despite the changing dynamics impacting the airline industry, such as rising fuel costs.”

Continental, which recently merged with United Airlines, holds the No. 4 spot, while American rounds out the top five.

“Emotions always run high during the holidays for all employees, especially in industries that have seasonal increases in volume, such as the airlines,” Golledge says. “Airline employees not only deal with the typical stresses that everyone faces, but they also are faced with many travelers who find holiday travel stressful. That is another reason that traveling with one of the airlines on CareerBliss’ Happiest Airlines List may make the entire process a little more jolly.”

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